ACARDRONA, New Zealand (Sept. 8) - U.S. Snowboarding's rookie program took six of its freestyle athletes to New Zealand where, for the past week, they've been learning new tricks, hanging out on a glacier and competed in their first halfpipe World Cup of the season last Sunday.

"It's been really good. Everyone has been riding really well," said Matt Ladley (Steamboat Springs, CO) of his experience so far. "We got to hit some big jumps and I learned a couple of new tricks, so it's been great."ccording to U.S. Snowboarding Freestyle Development Coach Bud Keene, the group has been improving on the jumps and is starting to feel at home in the pipe.

"We've been riding the pipe for a few hours a day, just getting used to the size and the pitch. We've also been hitting a lot of jumps," Keene said. "We've just been working on our runs and working on tricks. They've got a 65 foot tabletop with a 150 foot long landing and everyone's been hitting it and shining off of it. Matt got his first backside 10 off of that jump."

Junior World Championships silver medalist Kaitlyn Farrington (Bellevue, ID), who took sixth in the World Cup, is stoked on the improvements she's seen in her riding down under.

"We've just been riding a lot and I've been working on backside spins off of jumps and my cab 7s in the pipe," Farrington said. "On jumps I have improved a lot and I feel really confident in my cab 7s right now."

While the athletes train in New Zealand, they also competed in the Cardrona World Cup on Sunday.

"This was a huge World Cup. The participation was really high - there were 27 nations and about 150 riders here to compete. It's quite possibly the largest World Cup that I have attended," Keene said.

According to Ladley, he's just looking for good conditions and the possibility of going big in the competition.

"I'm really hoping it's good weather so that we can have a fast pipe," Ladley said. "I'd like to do back to back 10s again whether or not it's in the contest. It would be great if it were in the competition, but regardless it's something that I just want to get done."

In the meantime while they waited for Sunday's event, the riders managed to find a day to explore New Zealand for a bit.

"We went to the Tasman Sea and then we went to Fox Glacier and went rock jumping," Farrington said. "It was really cool, but the sea was very cold!"

The rookie's camp wraps up Wednesday.